Slide-fastener

ABSTRACT

A SLIDE FASTENER HAS A SLIDE-FASTENER HALF CONSISTING OF A SUPPORT TAPE AND A COUPLING ELEMENT IN THE FORM OF A COIL OF SYNTHETIC RESIN MOUNTED THEREON. THE COIL HAS TURNS WHICH EACH HAVE A HEAD NEXT TO AN EDGE OF THE TAPE, A BIGHT OPPOSITE THE HEAD, AN UPPER SHANK EXTENDING BETWEEN THE HEAD AND BIGHT AND LYING ORTHOGONALLY TO THE COIL AXIS, AND A LOWER SHANK LYING ON AND ATTACHED TO THE TAPE AT AN ANGLE TO THE COIL AXIS. THE HEADS ARE FLATTENED SO THAT A HEAD OF A SIMILAR COIL CAN BE GRIPPED BETWEEN NEIGHBORING HEADS. THE UPPER SHANK CAN BE INCLINED TO THE TAPE SO THAT THE HEAD IS WIDER THAN THE BIGHT AND THE LOWER SHANK CAN BE ALSO FLATTENED FOR BETTER CONTACT WITH THE TAPE FOR BONDING THERETO OR FOR CREATING A FORMATION PREVENTING SHIFTING OF THE COUPLING ELEMENT RELATIVE TO THE TAPE.

Sept. 20, 197] FROHLICH 3,605,205

SLIDE-FASTENER Filed Sept. 2. 1969 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.5

F l G .7

INVIL'N'IUR. ALFONS FR6HLICH BY ATTORNEY Sept. 20, 1971 QH 3,605,206

SLIDE-FASTENER Filed Sept. 2. 1969 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INV/L'N'IUR.

ALFONS FR'cSHucH BY (Karl ATTORNEY Sept. 20, 1971 FRQHUCH 3,605,206

SLIDE-FASTENER Filed Sept. 2, 1969 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG.8

[(12 llc I NVIiN'I'UR.

ALFONS FRdHLICH ATTORNEY United States Patent 6 3,605,206 SLIDE-FASTENERAlfons Friihlich, Essen, Germany, assignor to Opti- Holding AG., Glarus,Switzerland Filed Sept. 2, 1969, Ser. No. 854,432 Claims priority,applicafion Germany, Dec. 27, 1968, P 18 17 134.1 Int. Cl. A44b 19/12US. Cl. 24205.1C Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A slide fastener hasa slide-fastener half consisting of a support tape and a couplingelement in the form of a coil of synthetic resin mounted thereon. Thecoil has turns which each have a head next to an edge of the tape, abight opposite the head, an upper shank extending between the head andbight and lying orthogonally to the coil axis, and a lower shank lyingon and attached to the tape at an angle to the coil axis. The heads areflattened so that a head of a similar coil can be gripped betweenneighboring heads. The upper shank can be inclined to the tape so thatthe head is wider than the bight and the lower shank can be alsoflattened for better contact with the tape for bonding thereto or forcreating a formation preventing shifting of the coupling elementrelative to the tape.

The present invention relates to a slide fastener and, moreparticularly, to a slide-fastener half with an improved system securingthe coupling element to the tape.

Slide fasteners are known wherein a pair of tapes can be releaseablylaterally joined to each other by means of interengaging couplingelements in the form of syntheticresin coils at their edges. A sliderfitting over both coils can be shifted to mate or separate them. Eachcoil and its respective support tape constitutes, thus, a slide-fastenerhalf.

The coil is attached to the tape by a row of stitches in most cases.Often these stitches simply overlie the separate links of turns of thecoil to hold it to the tape, leaving the heads of the turns or linksfree to engage with those of the confronting coil. With such anarrangement as the slider moves along the coupling element the stitchesare abraded and, therefore, eventually wear out. Indeed, any objectbrought into contact with the coils abrades the stitches, anddeterioration often occurs in the washing or drying cleaning ofgarments.

In another arrangement, the coils have turns with generally U-shaped endportions that are sewn to the edge of the tape, or simply woven into thetape like a thread. As long as such a fastener remains closed there isno difiiculty; however, in an open condition the coils are liable toslip back through these stitches and make subsequent closure of thefastener very difficult. If not impossible. In addition, the coil isfastened in this instance, to the tape at a location remote from itshead so that a relatively long lever arm is provided which, on stressingof the fastener, allows the coil to be ripped loose from its point ofattachment.

It is possible to overcome some of these disadvantages by threading afiller cord or the like through the coil, and stitching through thiscord. This measure, however, requires a furter structural element in thefastener, and is not applicable to very fine fasteners. Also systemswherein the coupling element of the slide fastener, each turn of whichhas parallel shanks running from and to its head, are held in place bythreads of the tape are not entirely satisfactory in preventingwithdrawal of the turns.

It is, therefore, the principal object of the present invention toprovide an improved slide-fastener half.

A more specific object is to provide a slide-fastener half with improvedcoupling coil and system for securing it to the support tape whichovercomes the above-mentioned disadvantages.

Another specific object is to provide a coil which can be easily andsurely attached to a tape, and which can be used for either half of aslide fastener.

The above objects are attained, in accordance with the presentinvention, by a slide-fastener half comprising an elongated generallyhelicoidal coil of synthetic resin constituting a coupling element ofthe continuous type and a generally flat support tape. The coil has aplurality of turns each consisting of a head proximal to an edge of thetape, a bight remote therefrom, an upper shank extending orthogonally tothe longitudinal axis of the coil between the head and the bight, and alower shank lying on and attached to the tape and extending at an angleto the axis between the bight of one turn and the head of theneighboring turn.

According to a further feature of the present invention, the lowershanks lie at an angle of around 45 to the axis and are formed with aflattened lower surface portion engaging and facilitating attachment ofthe coil with the tape. The latter may be a synthetic-resin band or aknitted or woven fabric web while the coupling element is composed oflinearly molecularly oriented monofilamentary synthetic resin of thethermoplastic type, preferably polyarnide.

In accordance with another feature of the invention, the coil is asdescribed above but is formed with two flattened heads rather than ahead and a bight. This makes the coil fully symmetrical thereby makinguse of the same, rather than a specular coil, possible for both halvesof a single fastener. The coil of one half will have one row of headslying along the confronting edge of the support tape while the otherhalf used a similar coil with the other row of heads lying proximal tothe confronting edge.

When the coil is Woven into the tape, or passed through holes in thetape, the weft threads of this tape lie between the turns or links andare, therefore, protected from wear. Furthermore, when the coil isstitched to the tape, preferably held by the looper or locking threadswhich pass over the middle of the lower shank when a two-threaddouble-locked stitch is used, the threads holding the tape are also outof harms way between the links. In this manner, the coil is held betweenthe links thereby creating only a relatively small lever arm at theattachment site so that the coil can not be easily ripped loose, whilepermitting the flexing of the links that is necessary for open ing andclosing of the fastener. However, the invention contemplates the usegenerally of double-chain stitches and especially multiple-needle chainstitches (e.g., twinneedle double chain stitches) to retain the couplingelements. Preferably the retaining stitches are of doublelocked typewith two needle threads and a single locking thread (which may overliethe coupling element) designated as Stitch Type 402 by the FederalSpecifications Board of the United States.

The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the presentinvention will become more readily apparent from the followingdescription, reference being made to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a portion of a slidefastener according to the prresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view showing the coil of the fastener of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3A is a section taken along line IIIA-IIIA of FIG. 2;

FIG. 3B is a section similar to that of FIG. 3A showing a secondembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a top view of a third embodiment of the slide-fastener coil ofthe present invention;

FIG. is a section taken along line V-V of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a top view of yet another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a section taken along line VIIVII of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a section through a fastener using the coil shown in FIG. 38;

FIG. 9 is a section through another fastener using the coil of FIG. 3Band FIG. is a cross section through a slide-fastener half using, onceagain, the coil shown in FIG. 3B

As shown in FIGS. 1, -2 and 3A, a slide fastener consists of twoslide-fastener halves each comprising, basically, a coil 1 mounted on asupport tape 2. Each coil 1 is formed with a plurality of links or turns3 each comprising, in turn, a flattened head 5, a bight 6, an uppershank 4, extending at a right angle to a coil axis 8, P16. 2, and alower or connecting shank 7 extending from the head 5 of one turn 3 tothe bight 6 of the next, at an angle of about 45 to the axis 8.

As shown in FIG. 2, the distance d between neighboring turns 3 isapproximately equal to the diameter D of the round synthetic-resinmonofilament forming the coil 1.

The coils 1 are advantageously sewn to the tapes. A chain stitch isuseful for this; here, however, a two-thread double-locked stitches 13of the Type 402 is used with its looper or locking threads passing overthe turns of the coupling element while the two needle threads lierespectively to the right and to the left of the attaching location, tohold the coil 1 in place. The coil 1 is formed on a mandrel, as is wellknown in art, or on a forming wheel.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show a coil 1a having shanks 4a and 7a bight 6a, and head5a much as in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3A. The lower connecting shank 7a is hereformed with a flattened portion 9 which facilitates attachment of thecoil 1a to one a support tape, as will be described below.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show another coil 1b with shanks 4b and 7b connectedtogether by two heads 5b and 5b. In all respects, save in thereplacement of the bight 6 with the head 5b, the coil 1b of FIGS. 6 and7 is identical to that of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3A. This extra head 5b presentsthe great advantage of making the coil 1b fully symmetrical so that itcan be used for both halves of a slide fastener without the necessity ofreversing it.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 3B.Here the coil 10 is provided which has shanks 7a and 40, a bight 60, ahead 50, and a flattened connecting flank portion 90 as in FIGS. 1, 2,and 3A. Here, however, the shank 4c is inclined to the shank 7c, as seenfrom the end, thereby forming a narrowing opening through the center andmaking the coil 1c wider at the head 50 than at the bight 60. Thisconstruction provides a slide fastener coil or coupling member which isrelatively flat, only being wide in the region where this width isstrictly necessary. In addition, a thread 10 is provided extendingaxially up the center of the coil 1c to reinforce it.

FIGS. 8, 9, and 10 show different methods of mounting the coil 10 onsupport tapes to provide a firm and static connection therebetween.

In FIG. 8 a pair of the coils 1c are mounted on respective tapes 20.They are held in the regions of their narrowed, flattened shank portions90 by weft threads 110 of the tapes 20. These tapes are, to thispurpose, provided with holes 12 through which the coils 1c are woven.

FIG. 9 is entirely similar to FIG. 8, except that the tapes 2c are bentat 14 so that if, as seen in FIG. 9, the up side of the fastener is usedas the outside, a very neat appearance is given and the coils 1c arefully protected against damage from the outside.

Finally, FIG. 10 shows the coil 10 stitched to a tape 2b by stitches13b, once again of the preferred twothread double locked stitch (Type402): the coil is simultaneously bonded to this tape 212 along theinterface between the fiattened portion 9c and the tape 21).

I claim:

1. A slide-fastener half comprising an elongated generally helicoidalcoil of synthetic resin and a support tape, said coil having a pluralityof turns each with a head proximal to an edge of said tape, a bightremote therefrom, an upper shank extending substantially orthogonally tothe longitudinal axis of said coil between said head and said bight, anda lower shank lying on and attached to said tape and extending at anangle to said axis between said bight and the head of a neighboringturn, said bight, head and upper shank of each turn lying generally in arespective plane perpendicular to the axis of the coil with only thelower shank extending away from this plane, said lower shanks all lyinggenerally in a common plane parallel to said tape and resting thereon,said lower shanks being the exclusive portions of each turn secured tothe tape.

2. The slide-fastener half defined in each of said lower shanks isformed portion engaging said tape.

3. The slide-fastener half defined in said lower shanks extend at anangle said axis.

4. The slide-fastener half defined in each of said lower shanks isbonded to portion.

5. The slide-fastener half defined in claim 2 wherein said heads areflattened and are thereby adapted to grip similar flattened headsbetween one another.

6. The slide-fastener half defined in claim 2 wherein said tape isgenerally flat and said upper shanks are inclined to said tape, each ofsaid turns being thereby wider adjacent said head.

7. The slide-fastener half defined in claim 2, wherein a filler cordextends axially through said turns of said coil.

8. The slide-fastener half defined in claim 2, wherein said lower shankis sewn to said tape.

9. The slide-fastener half defined in claim 2, further comprising atwo-thread double-locked stitch connecting said lower shank to saidtape.

10. A coupling-element coil for a slide fastener comprising a pluralityof turns each having a pair of heads, an upper shank, and a lower shank,said coil being elongated and having a longitudinal axis, said uppershank extending between said pair of heads substantially orthogonally tosaid axis, said lower shank extending from one of said heads to the headof a neighboring turn at an angle to said axis, said coil beingsubstantially symmetrical about said axis, said bight, head and uppershank of each turn lying generally in a respective plane perpendicularto the axis of the coil with only the lower shank extending away fromthis plane, said lower shanks all lying generally in a common planeparallel to said tape and resting thereon, said lower shanks being theexclusive portions of each turn secured to the tape, each of said shankshaving a flattened portion adapted to be secured to a support tape.

claim 1 wherein with a flattened claim 2 wherein of about 45 to claim 2wherein said tape at said References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS3,170,207 2/1965 Morin 24-205.13BcUX 3,430,304 3/1969 Swainson24205.1CUX 3,490,110 1/1970 Frohlich 24205.1CUX

BERNARD A. GELAK, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

242OS.13C, 205.16C

